Jakub Alexander curates the music selections here at the blog. He also runs his Moodgadet record label out of Brooklyn, NY and does A&R for Ghostly International Records.
Links:Moodgadget RecordsJakub's Tumblr

Resident Advisor swooped in probably grabbed the best musician at the moment to do a Halloween themed mix for us, Fever Ray. I just don’t remember them contacting her since i’m her boyfriend and all and I should of known about this (just kidding, only in my dreams). Another great perk that comes along with the RA Podcast’s is the short interview, here’s a few snip its from it:

RA: What came first with Fever Ray, the music or the aesthetic? And how do they two inform each other?Fever Ray: Music always comes first. It is the difficult part. The visual aspect of Fever Ray is more of a great hobby after the hard work is done.

RA: What have you been working on recently?Fever Ray: I have been touring with Fever Ray and with The Knife I am just about to finish the studio version of the opera, Tomorrow in a Year.

Today might be one of the finer selections in a while on the experimental/dense end, some real nice songs that should ride out all the way thru. I’ve only heard good things about Kranky’s one man show White Rainbow, glorious builds and thick lo-fi looping and nearly each song at 15 mins! just what I wanted, looks like Best Of ’09 candidate. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

When I heard Tim Hecker + remix I was all over these, cold and airy yet soo appealing.

I just figured out the F*ck Buttons sound, i’m really glad they followed thru with a similar sound on this record, makes them more of a leader of this sound in my eyes.

I know some of you might not like this Vitalic sound but i’m hoping this record can knock Justice off their high horse, the production is really strong and I feel like Vitalic has some substance compared to Justice especially the other songs on the record, it might be clubby but the attention spent on certain sounds to make a party jump off puts a smile on my face.

Wow. just wow. this new single from The Horrors is one of the more subdued but catchy singles of the year. I know I know the band’s aesthetic or how they carry themselves might not be everyone’s cup of tea but musically its just refreshing, at times it reminds me of why I loved U2’s Achtung Baby or INXS when I was really young and I have to name drop those records because everyone else is saying Joy Division. The video below is simple and stylized pretty well, good lookin’ band.

Ariel Pink melts together some of the more popular sounds that we’re the softer side of the 70’s but adds that lo-fi touch. He would be the last character i’d expect to use a saxophone but makes it work, can’t wait to buy this record.

Zomby is one of the more well known dubstep guys in the US I think because of his digital releases get a ton of love on iTunes US and eMusic, he can be hit or miss for me but Digital Fauna grabs me right away with its catchy drive, nothing reaching for attention, and this switch up to shuffle right in the middle of the song.

You know how if you sometimes see something more than 7 times and then you finally are like okay i’ll buy in and I guess i’ll check it out, that’s how it was with Fruit Bats. I’m still on the fence of if I like it, I guess I can add it to my upbeat Americana folder, in there with America and a few Old Neil Young songs I like….there, not to shabby, maybe i’ll put it on cassette and drive cross country with it.

New Bibio music coming from all angles, man just when I getting into Vignetting the Compost then Ambivalence Avenue came along and blew my mind and now a new EP? life is good.

A new Washed Out EP is out as well, this Phone Call track is on repeat every day in my room, I think this might be his best song yet, it doesn’t count on a slow tempo and gets me excited about what else this guy can do.

I hope HudMo starts producing Top 40 because he’ll add a fun aspect to the whole stale genre, his snare hits have a funny sound though, like some cartoony feel to them I can’t put my finger on it, either way it unique, I also like how he gets his synths to sound like a cassette player is eating his tape.

I got to hang out with Leo 123 while Eliot Lipp and Mux Mool we’re in town, a really funny guy and knows his synths really well too. He has that Disco/Hip Hop fusion sound going, loopy yet a ton of good synth playing over it all which I can always respect.

Today is a big day for the Suite series (The Rorschach Suite, The Synchronicity Suite, The Nocturnal Suite), the third edition has come out on Ghostly International. The series is a various compilation collection that explores the variety in electronic music. Also, celebrating the 5 year anniversary of Moodgadget we made the last 2 Suites only 4.99 on iTunes which both have 20 songs each, I hope you all can enjoy something on here, there is some major melody going on in these songs, below is a great description by the talented editors at Ghostly:

“Ghostly affiliate Moodgadget Records exclusively releases music by up-and-coming artists; with the Nocturnal Suite, Moodgadget not only “exposes the diversity in electronic music” (the label’s mission statement), it unites dazzlingly talented, like-minded artists working in wildly divergent stylistic fields into a grand, unified whole. Like its predecessors, the Moodgadget-curated Rorschach Suite and Synchronicity Suite, the Nocturnal Suite plays like a lovingly assembled mixtape, compiling brief, catchy, electronic-minded pop songs built for obsessive repeat listening.

The Nocturnal Suite is eclectic, but even among its stylistic diversity (the liquid space-disco of Faux Pas’ “Rose’s Lament (Gadget Edit),” for instance, sits right next to Wild Yaks’ caveman-like “Crazy but Not Afraid,” which flanks 800Beloved’s Psychedelic Furs-esque anthem “Galaxies”), there’s a distinctly nighttime-y mood, folding acoustic guitars and sleepy vocals in with its distressed beats and synths. Daedelus’ remix of Praveen & Benoit’s “Chiaroscuro” clothes a distant clattering beat in ambient reverb swells and wisps of orchestral flutes; Bluejay’s “Blurry” wraps its bedroom electro-pop around a deliciously melancholy hook; City Center’s “Summer School” is an exercise in pastoral dream-beat, a psychedelic fog of a track that drifts like a late-afternoon beachside nap.

The Nocturnal Suite encompasses dance music, indie rock, synth-pop, experimental instrumentals—and, yes, electronic music—but its emotional core is its biggest asset. Even in the closing track, Daniel Johnson’s deadly serious cover of Sophie B. Hawkins’ 1991 classic “Damn (Wish I Was Your Lover),” the pea soup-thick production turns the jaunty original into a much more resonant affair; it’s a fitting end to a compilation that turns every genre it touches into perfect late-night listening.”

The new echochord release by Quantec is the perfect day starter, it doesn’t ask for much of your attention and evolves nicely, a great pick up for the fans that love deep and dubby.

Lush might have a headache of an album cover for their 4AD release of Spooky but the music is anything but, last night I heard De-luxe at the bar at 4am and it made my night. I love how less harsh this is compared to MBV and also, how did this band tour with Ride? must of been a pretty large contrast night after night during those tour dates.

Theo Parrish is a edit genius, plain and simple.

I went to see Bonobo and Eliot Lipp last night in New York, Eliot killed it, he played a ton on the SH-101 which reminds me of 2Pac for some reason. My favorite track still by him is Beamrider but he also played a couple other favs by others like Sorcerer, Michna and Mux Mool. I like the uniqueness of not only is it being a Live/DJ set but he also plays on top of other people’s music, its kind of a different way of thinking about an edit of a song and seeing it live nonetheless makes it kind of special to see him play every time.

One of the best live shows i’ve seen this year will be out in Europe this November. Benoit Pioulard who is a pretty popular musician that I post about on this blog will be hitting the road and playing one of the more beautiful experimental live sets you’ll ever here. If you live in France then it looks like you have like 5 chances to catch him, nice.

I spent a ton of time last night with some of the pop ambient series on Kompakt but the early years which got me into the old Mille Plateaux catalog and other Kompakt ambient albums as well. So here are a few songs that made the early 2000’s really enjoyable, makes me think about close friends designing minimal futuristic flyers and teaching myself Adobe Photoshop late at night. I don’t know if can ever relive that again, you know being excited about Wallpaper magazine, minimal glitchy websites like seeing 2advanced.com for the first time, and mod backpacks, way to go 2001!